Versa 2 won't receive notifications "a phone restart is required to re-enable notifications"

[Iwantapebble]

Hey everyone.. I finally jumped ship from my unreliable Pebble classic to the Fitbit Versa 2, and 3 days in, I'm finding when it works for the notifications it's actually great, but when it decides not to get notifications and gives me that red message about my device needing a restart to get notifications (it still syncs during all this) it's Really Frustrating! I have been over 2.5 hours today trying to get it going, restarts, unpair, connect, starting Amazon music to try and force a connection, forget cache, force stop, and so on.. and still nothing! Am I being a bit thick here? There doesn't seem to be any way of knowing from the watch if I'm connected or not, other than I get a notification of SMS or email.. my pebble said 'connected' if I checked the Bluetooth under settings, and even then half the time it wouldn't get the notifications which is why I got this new fitbit but it's driving me quite insane.. I'm using an Honor 8x, so is it android 10? Is it me? I really want this to work and not be running crying back to John Lewis.. can anyone tell me where I'm going wrong please?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Ashels1001]

Good day 

Please could you assist me my Fitbit does not want to receive any notifications I followed the steps provided on previous posts it works for a day and then it stops again 

ERROR: Notification service not running. A phone restart is required to re-enable notifications on your tracker 

I restarted my phone and Versa it is still not working.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Michael2020]

I have the exact same issue with my Versa2 I've tried everything the support team has asked me to do deleting reinstalling unpairing pairing I may get one or two notifications and then nothing but “Notification service is not running. A phone restart is required to re-enable notifications on your tracker”

[Iwantapebble]

Been restarting for nearly 4 hours and nuthin'..

[Iwantapebble]

Finally after 7 hours I have notifications..

[Pake25]

I've been having that issue for a week don't seem to be able to fix it with the usual restarts etc 

[Iwantapebble]

This is what did it in the end, after everything else, I again went into settings, apps, Fitbit, clear data and then I uninstalled the fitbit app from my phone and reinstalled it. What a pain.. am I gonna be doing this every day for the rest of my life? 

[Pake25]

Ill give it a go and see if it eventually works for me! 

[Pake25]

Yes it worked for me hope it continues to work! 

[Iwantapebble]

That's the second time it's worked for me in the 3 days I have had the Fitbit, so I think it could be a workaround, I was loathe to do it a second time because it wipes out the pre written replies and emoji I like to use and I have to set that up all over again.. and it isn't really a permanent answer to what's clearly a constantly malfunctioning (brand new!) product, at least when paired with Android phones.. and it's time consuming and frustrating and sucks the joy completely out of the product for me .

Yay!!!!!! Wow, I'm so happy it worked for you @Pake25 ! Next time it drops the notifications, I will not look into all the setting for hours and keep restarting the phone and Fitbit over and over but just do this workaround.. it might even only need the data clear and a restart, not the reinstallation of the app..

[Pake25]

Yeah I spent a whole week restarting my phone all the time so glad u replied and I've got it working! Thank you so much 😊

[Michael2020]

I have done it and it does work, the problem is that it only works for a few hours or a day and then it's back to the same problem.
--
Sent from Mike's mobile.

[Iwantapebble]

Agree, this morning it had done a last sync somewhere around 4am and then given up again and I was back to the same red message about restart for notifications. This time I just went and cleared the data but didn't uninstall the app and then just logged back into the app..  I don't know whether to just keep doing the workaround and wait for Fitbit to get their act together with some decent software or return it for a refund saying it's really not fit for purpose.. My more basic pebble watch worked great for the last 6 years or so until battery got worse and Android updates messed it up.. out of all it I only really want notifications and music control, (I couldn't care less about steps and sleep and all that), and yet it seems those are the 2 worst  performing aspects of the Versa 2. My  screen doesn't come on with motion either altho it's set to.. 

[MarreFitbit]

Hello @Iwantapebble, @Michael2020, @Pake25, welcome to the Community Forums. I'm sorry to hear that you're going through this situation with your notifications on your Versa smartwatches. Please note that our main purpose is to avoid negative experiences to our customers, we're always willing to help and provide troubleshooting steps. I appreciate you've taking the time to troubleshoot this inconvenience prior to posting here.

If you're on iOS, please follow these steps: Troubleshooting quick tips for iPhones (Important: Make sure you turn OFF and then back ON the Share System Notifications setting if it is on) and if you're on Android, try: Why are notifications delayed or missing?

Also, I wondered if the mobile device you're syncing with is included in our list of supported devices? You can see the list at: Which phones and tablets can I use with my Fitbit watch or tracker?

Fitbit products are compatible with most devices that have the following operating systems: Apple iOS 12.2 and higher, Android OS 7.0 and higher.

Please keep in mind that when a device is not supported and does not meet the require OS we cannot guarantee its functionality with the Fitbit app. It might work at a certain time and then it can stop working out of nowhere after an update. This is because the app is not optimized to that device and any change could impact the performance. 

Would you mind letting me know if you get any error message either on your watch or Fitbit app? If so, what it does say? Is the same as the one @Michael2020 is getting “Notification service is not running. A phone restart is required to re-enable notifications on your tracker”?

I'm looking forward to your response, keep me posted. 

[Pake25]

Yes mine was the same message as @Michael2020 on my phone but once I did whatever was suggested to me I've not had any problems. 

[Iwantapebble]

Hi MarreFitbit, thanks for your message.

Yes the same issue as @Michael2020, with the notification message in red block when I try and sync. The biggest issue is that I don't know when I have lost connection until I check my phone which is kind of defeating the option for me. On my pebble watch I can check the 'connected' setting on the watch bit can't see how to do that on the Fitbit. Usually I try Alexa and if she won't co-operate then I guess I'm not connected..

My phone is on latest Android version, model  is a Huawei Honor 8x, as it turns out, not on your supported list which I discovered from help on this forum, but I'm surprised that such a list even exists, and I would never have thought I would need to check if a product would work with a fairly new Android phone before blowing £159 on something that isn't doing what it's pretty much meant to.. Shouldn't that disclaimer be displayed somewhere when purchasing? 

As for that message, any number of phone restarts doesn't solve the notifications issue,for me the only thing that works is clearing all the data as I recommended in my post, and then reconfiguring all the settings in the Fitbit, which is annoying and time consuming but seems to be the only way to get this thing to work. What are my options? Is it going to.work properly at some point or am I heading to returns to get some other kind of smartwatch that can do what my 6 year old pebble watch can do? I appreciate you helping me because I am frustrated most of the day when the connection is lost..and I'm back in settings to try and trigger it to work again..

[Iwantapebble]

Wow @Pake25 you're lucky with that workaround, I have to do it 4 or 5 times a day.. and @Michael2020 the same I think..

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there @Iwantapebble, thanks for getting back and for confirming that you're receiving the same error message. We’re aware of it and are working to identify a resolution as quickly as possible. 

We're sorry for any trouble. We appreciate your patience and look forward to getting you back on track.

In regards to your phone that is not yet listed as an official device with the Fitbit app, as I've mentioned above, Fitbit products are compatible with most devices that have the following operating systems: Apple iOS 12.2 and higher, Android OS 7.0 and higher.

Please let us know if there's anything we can do to assist you in the meantime.

[Iwantapebble]

Seems your forums are full of unresolved issues with fitbits dating back several years and many comments about the Versa and Versa 2 Fitbits not working as they should.. when you say you hope to have a resolution as quickly as possible, do you have a timeframe for that?

Even if I had checked the list before purchase, you seem to suggest that only these phones are incompatible with Fitbit.. my phone isn't one of those listed but it seems like it's pretty incompatible if I need to reset all the settings 5 times a day to get any notifications, and without that workaround I wouldn't be getting any notifications, ever.. 

 

[Jammy13]

I'm also having the same problem! Had the watch for a week and think I've only received notifications for about 15 mins in total at different times and on different days!

I'll have to try the workaround suggested but I have a feeling I may be returning it! It works fine apart from that but not worth the money if I'm not getting the full experience.

My phone is not even on the list of the compatible phones but its higher than the android 7.0. I have a huawei p10 lite. The p10 and p20 lite are compatible so i thought mine would be too. 

hope you all get sorted!